ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a liberal framework for explaining North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) recent development. It then summarises the main tenets of the 'new liberalism' in International Relations (IR) theory and distinguishs it from competing approaches. Liberalism is also more consistent in its treatment of the diplomatic history of crisis management operations than a purely normative or ideational approach. For liberalism, the sources that account for NATO's most important engagements are material and ideational. The chapter's objective is twofold: first, it seeks to provide a theory-driven explanation that links NATO's functions to governmental interests as defined by domestic politics. Second, it addresses the questions of what and who NATO is for by making the case for re-evaluating the drivers behind the Alliance's interventions of the last twenty years. The chapter also asserts that foreign policy is a function of governmental interests. Finally, it sets out with the puzzle that NATO's continued existence posed for many neo-realists.
